Debate a tie. Obama, McCain repeat rhetoric

Barack Obama and John McCain managed to spend a great deal of time talking about a bailout without really saying anything about it.

Both candidates assured us there was no social program or tax-cut that couldn’t be paid for simply by cutting wasteful spending or closing corporate tax loopholes; and, in a move that surely ruined drinking games across the country, McCain hardly ever said “my friends.”

Disappointing.

That sums up the first debate. Nearly the first 40 minutes involved the bailout and the financial crisis. Instead of really talking about the bailout plan, both candidates just reverted back to their standard economic talking points.  

McCain talked about reducing earmark expenditures and lowering taxes, repeating a long-rebuked claim that Obama had voted to raise taxes on people making $42,000 a year. Obama, for his part, was unwilling to acknowledge that the $700 billion bailout could spell certain doom for several of his projects.

Both of the candidates spent most of their time reminding viewers that they care about Main Street, that they are against corporate greed and that they both love America. At one point debate moderator Jim Lehrer had to politely remind the candidates to actually answer a question.

The debate about foreign policy was also fairly empty.

McCain refused to admit that invading Iraq was a mistake, and Obama still seems unsure of how to acknowledge that the surge has had its gains.

McCain suggested that holding negotiations with Iran was irresponsible, even though he has expressed willingness to meet with Vladimir Putin. Russia has actually invaded a sovereign country and killed actual Georgians, an act far beyond threatening to wipe them off the map.

What are the students on this campus supposed to make of such a debate? Plenty of young activists on campus, not least of all STAND, will be disappointed that neither candidate mentioned the situation in Darfur. In fact neither candidate really said anything about Africa or Latin America. China was barely mentioned.

The debate probably convinced few of those who have protested the war from its inception that the United States should stay longer and convinced just as few of those who believe the war was a righteous act that the United States should withdraw troops.

This debate settled little. By our account there was little real debate at all.